Fresh Start At Fox Towers.

_Dolly_Rocker_

Woo hoo - well done on the extra funds!

Sarahwithlove

Good news on extra funds. I agree try and get rid of storage until as quickly as you can. What are you going to do if the van isn't back in time for you to move everything to storage unit? Would it be easier to rent a van for a day? I used a man and van when I moved 

_Dolly_Rocker_

Might be easier. 

I've always just used a man with a van when I moved too. 

foxandflowers

We will rent one for the day if that is the case - although you may be able to hear my screams of frustration echoing across the UK. 

£20 more made via FB marketplace today, and another £3.50 on Vinted. Things are slowly leaving the house. I've just about caught up on the laundry too (very long overdue). 

I've not been sleeping too well, and I think a lot of that is to do with the fact that I am teetering on the precipice of major change. It's exciting, but also rather scary to think that everything will be different. And I watched a YT video earlier and they were talking about how downsizing to release equity to pay off debt is the easy option and you don't learn anything from it... but the more I think about that, the more I think about what I have learned.

_Dolly_Rocker_

I really need to have a clear out and try and make some extra cash. 

Will do that in the New Year. 

2025 goals and all that!

WinterWarrior

They also say consolidation doesn’t teach you anything, but I think it depends on your point of view. One big debt should still be enough of a shock (and relief) to keep you from borrowing more. So downsizing should still help you learn from the experience. You will feel immense relief at being debt free, will understand the smaller house is the trade off for that safe feeling and of course you wouldn’t want to go down that route again. Maybe you could do a YT channel of your own showing how it can work ⭐️

foxandflowers

Took my much loved leather boots to Timpsons yesterday. The man said he couldn't guarantee that gluing the sole back on would work because they'd been heat bonded when they were assembled, but I asked him to try because at this point they are 4 years old and my favourite shoes. He did try, and gave them a lovely polish up too, and what do you know? It worked  and he didn't charge me. Strange how most people don't tend to think about fixing things - especially my generation and below. My boots live to fight on another winter - from the initial purchase price of £89 they are now working out at £17.80 per winter season, and are creating much less environmental waste than buying a new pair every winter.

Working in town is dangerous financially though. I ended up in a charity shop to get a bag to carry the boots home as its recommended to not wear them for the first 24 hours until the glue cures, and then it started raining and my paper bag disintegrated... and I spent £5 on a green Next Dress. Oops. Oh well, it will do nicely for any smarter events if I dress it up with the one pair of heels I own, and it will also do for work when its a bit warmer again. 

The car saga continues to rattle on in the background. We are hiring a car this weekend (there goes the £55 I thought I had spare) and will be loading up the unit while we have the chance. My solicitor doesn't work Thursday's, so I can't chase as to when we are moving either. I am gritting my teeth, and hoping for the best, but the 10th won't be happening I don't think. If we don't end up moving the week of the 16th, I don't think we will get in before the New Year, which would suck. Especially as I haven't done any Christmas decorating in anticipation of us moving!

foxgloves

@foxandflowers - You are absolutely right about people mostly just not thinking about mending boots & shoes. I'm a good bit older than you, & when I was a student back in the 1980s, we used to re-sole & heel our boots using DIY kits from Woolworth's as it was cheaper than going to a shoe-menders. My Mum had previously done a good job of this when I was living at home, so I just carried on doing it until the kits became unavailable &/or I started buying the type of boots which I couldn't mend in this way (i.e DMs). Talking of DMs, I bought a pair back in Autumn 1999 & despite wearing them regularly, I only threw them out this year. It was back in my Spendy Decades when I bought them, so I know damn well I'd have had them on credit & wouldn't have been able to afford them, but they lasted for 25 years - just 1 month less than the whole time Mr F & I have been together! Another pair of boots I used to own - black knee-length were taken to the shoemender when one of the zips broke. I asked if he could replace it with a new one & he said he could, but was very apologetic about the cost & said that lots of people on hearing it decide not to bother & to buy a new pair. Well, I went ahead with the repair because it was £15 & I wouldn't have got a new pair of leather boots for that. Much better from a financial & sustainability point of view to repair things.
F
P.S My Mum also used to buy little pots of paint-on shoe dye to give her shoes a new look but I haven't seen those around for years.

foxandflowers

Hi @foxgloves,
Interesting you should mention shoe dye - there was some in the shop yesterday!! and I was wondering what it would be used for.
Good to know about the price of the zip replacement too - I have a lovely pair of brown Ugg Kensington boots also bought during Spendy Times circa 2013. The zip broke about 10 years ago and I haven't thrown them out because a) they're blooming expensive to buy and b) I am sure I can get it repaired! They were only worn for one winter before they broke, which was very annoying. 
I definitely think there's something to be said for spending on your footwear - although sadly the quality of DM's has much declined since the mid 2000s.

littlegreen

Honestly never had bad customer service in Timpsons, do seem to go the extra mile, and love their ethos as a company too.

It's the same with sowing up holes in clothes, it's a task that can be done sat down in front of television instead of scrolling on a  phone. Now I'm not going to be making clothes out of curtains allez Maria from The Sound of Music, but patching a pair of jeans or sowing up a small hole in a top often results in at least another season of wear. Hobbycraft do some great patches BTW should anyone be interested - they are the reason I'm still able to wear by favourite, holey maternity dungarees despite not having been pregnant for many years  now